AUTHOR! AUTHOR! BOOK PUBLISHER
GIVES WRITERS A BOOST

(The Los Angeles Times, April
25, 1996)

Byline: PATRICIA WARD BIEDERMAN,
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Press kits from publishers tend to be as austere
as a nun's nightgown.

Typically they consist of a blurb about the new
book, biographicalmaterial on the author and his or her photo,
tucked into a utilitariancardboard folder. Once in a while, the publisher
throws in some littlepromotional item. The press kit for Janet Evanovich's
last book, "TwoFor the Dough," came with a purple fruit-shaped
key holder, a visualpun on the name of bounty-hunter heroine Stephanie
Plum.

But the press kit for Robert Crais'
new book, "Sunset Express," is averitable treasure trove of tschokes, including
a spiffy black baseballcap, "Sunset Express" pins and, my personal fave,
a neon orange plasticlizard. The gaudy reptile was immediately hung
by its tail in a place ofhonor in my kitchen.

It was the lizard that prompted me to phone
Crais' publisher, Hyperion,to find out what was going on here.
Crais, who lives in Sherman Oaks,is a former Emmy-nominated TV writer whose mystery
novels feature awisecracking Angeleno private eye named Elvis
Cole. Cole is an unrepentantsmartass who likes women, children and cats,
does tai chi on his deck in theHollywood Hills and has a daunting sidekick,
Joe Pike, so laconic he makesSpenser's buddy, Hawk, sound like a chatterbox.

The reason for my call was a suspicion, which
Hyperion confirmed, that thepublisher was actually putting both thought and
money (albeit money used tobuy plastic lizards) into marketing Crais.
Talk to almost any writer and heor she will launch, with no more prompting than
the Ancient Mariner, into abitter tale about his or her last book, published
only to disappear without agurgle into the vast sea of books issued and
unpromoted every year. About50,000 new titles appear annually, and the majority
are left to languish anddie by the very houses that bring them into the
world.

Since the first Cole book, "The Monkey's Raincoat,"
appeared in 1987 andgarnered an Edgar nomination as well as Anthony
and Macavity awards,Crais fans have been waiting for his books to
take off the way so many lessdeftly written mysteries have in recent years
(you know whose they are).Although Crais doesn't say so, publisher
indifference may be a factor.Bantam, the publisher of the first four Elvis
Cole novels, didn't even botherto send Crais on a book tour, which seems
especially odd given that he isboth personable and still looks, at 42, like
the guy everybody in high schoolhad a crush on.

But Hyperion, one of Disney's many branches, has
big plans for Crais,publisher Bob Miller makes clear. When the company
started four yearsago, Miller says, it made a long-term commitment
to transforming a carefullychosen group of writers from cult favorites into
brand-name authors. The firstperson the company began grooming was James Lee
Burke, Edgar-winningauthor of a series of thrillers set in Louisiana
featuring recovering alcoholicDave Robicheaux. Others whose careers are being
cultivated by Hyperion--all writers of suspense, because they come with
a base of hard-core fans tobuild on--include Laurence Shames, Edna Buchanan,
Ridley Pearson andT. Jefferson Parker.

Miller said he learned of Crais
through one of Hyperion's editors and itspublicity director, both of whom were big fans.
What the publishing houselooks for, Miller says, are "immensely
charming authors with enormoustalent." No writers unwilling to chat nicely
with the public and sign books'til their hands cramp need apply. "We've found
that touring is a critical pieceof the picture in building these authors," Miller
says. For the current book,Hyperion has sent Crais on a 25-city tour.
(He was in Minneapolis the dayI wrote this.)

As Miller explains, "The industry tends to shy
away from building authorsover time." But Hyperion feels that these writers
have the potential to becomemajor players and that investment in them now
will pay off in the future. WhenCrais signed with them, he was selling
fewer than 10,000 copies per book,Miller says. Hyperion shoots for doubling sales
with each new title. "SunsetExpress," Crais' second book for
the company, has already sold more than30,000 copies.

One of the things the company does is spend money--about
$ 150,000 topromote "Sunset Express." The process began in
January when lizards weremailed to 1,200 bookstores. "We just wanted to
get people wondering whatthe heck it is," says Miller, explaining the
rain of reptiles. More substantively,the same bookstores received three advance copies
of the book, instead of theusual one, in hopes that more store staff would
read it, like it and recommend itto customers.

Hyperion takes a systems approach to building
its writers. One aspect of theprocess is, Miller explains, "to establish a
look for each author." Hyperion hascome up with what it thinks of as a distinctive
Crais look, which appears onthe covers of his books and on his promotional
materials. Cole is wry andironic, Miller points out, and both the turtles
on the cover of the previousCole novel, "Voodoo River," and the lizards on
the current one reflect whatMiller terms "a wry use of animals." The neon
colors are "hot L.A. colors."In contrast, Burke is widely regarded as a literary
stylist and has elegant covers.

Besides controlling the look of the books, Hyperion
is committed to controllingwhen they appear. The publisher started a paperback
imprint so it could coordinatethe soft-cover publication of the author's previous
hardback with the publicationof the new one (with complementary covers,
of course). Hyperion also tries to getauthors on a schedule that will maximize the
impact of their books. Burke used topublish in the spring. When Hyperion moved his
publication date to early August,when fewer new titles are flooding the market,
Burke broke onto the New YorkTimes bestseller list for the first time. Now
readers know that if this is Augustthey can expect a new Burke and the publication
of the last title in paper.

Writers such as John Grisham are so famous their
books all but sell themselves.But Miller says it is enormously gratifying to
nurture the career of a deservinglesser-known writer and see the effort and commitment
pay off in regularly risingsales.

"We're doing this out of a long-term belief in
the author," he says. "It's a leap of faith."

GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Hyperion has spent
about $150,000 to promote"Sunset Express,"written by Robert Crais.
The promotional materials includehats and lizards--the plastic animals were mailed
to 1,200 bookstores in January. (NOT SHOWN)